My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

What is in a basket of spectacular?

List of ingredients:

What is in a basket of spectacular floral art design

2 1/4 cups all-purpose dazzling

Cattleya orchid

1/2 teaspoon designing dramatic

Cattleya orchid in a grass basket

1 cup (2 sticks) memorable, room temperature

Cattleya orchid in a woven grass basket

1 cup, packed oooohs and aaaahs (mixed)

Cattleya orchid in a loosely woven grass basket

1 generous pinch of ruffled pretty

Cattleya orchid in a woven lily grass basket

2 teaspoons pure purple spectacular extract

Cattleya orchid in a hand woven lily grass basket

2 large heart flutters

Cattleya orchid and lily grass

2 cups (about 12 ounces) semi sweet tah-dahs

Directions: Weave all the ingredients together and enjoy fresh, preferably with a cup of coffee

Every week I add a new design with related tutorials. Be sure to subscribe to receive an email notification with design inspiration.

Tutorials

8 June 2011 Foliage Weaving

For this tutorial I focus on a simple weave pattern that does not require you to soften or prepare the leaves to be more durable or flexible. This is the starting point in...

12 August 2015 Messy edged basket

Weave a loose basket to display flowers

15 April 2015 Stretching leaves and foliage into a ringlet curl

Most leaves and foliage can be slightly manipulated to curve or curl.

25 January 2017 Detailing a messy edged grass basket

Weave a basket from lily grass and then cut and curl the edges

7 December 2016 Flat wire and grass bridal basket

Wrap grass around a flat wire shape to create a delicate bridal basket design

20 December 2011 Weaving a gift box with a lid from palm leaves

A great all natural gift decorating alternative

1 February 2012 Weaving a diagonal green grass basket

Once you figure out how to do the corners weaving a diagonal shape is actually not that hard to do.

5 June 2013 Weaving a cube foliage ring box

Weave a cube with a ribbon

1 October 2012 Weaving a ball shaped Dew-drop Catcher from grass

Weave a sphere from grass

3 February 2016 Connect the dot grass Armature

Connect the ends of grass snippets to create a spherical grass armature

Favourite Flowers

Cattleya

Cattleya orchids

Related Designs

1 February 2017 Not yet Spring, Spring but a spring

Coil wire and grass to create a spring

17 May 2017 Nobody move!

Weave a small basket with a lid to keep fluffy treasures in

9 August 2017 Hat tip

Tip a mortarboard inspired top at an angle for a glass design

25 July 2018 Lemon Aid

Use a lemon as a stopper to keep floral material in place

20 February 2019 Inna...

Stack bowls to keep your flower stems in place.

27 February 2019 It’s a trap!

Weave a trap to keep your floral details suspended in a square container.

13 March 2019 How to avoid your wedding treasures from becoming “after the event trash”

My article and grass wedding basket design.

24 July 2019 Up to much?

Dress up a single lily stem with a few blades of grass.

11 September 2019 Transition into Fall

A sustainable, absolutely no waste floral design using willow to suspend your flower head in your arrangement.

8 January 2020 Rest a bit here

Gently curve a shallow area with a leaf to showcase a gorgeous flower with a short stem in a water filled vase

18 March 2020 Aerial Odyssey

A closer look at my design at Canada Blooms and The Toronto Flower Show last week. The show was cancelled right after we staged the designs due to COVID-19 concerns.

10 March 2021 The way we curve

Tiny minimal design that explores curves.

2 February 2022 Putting my feelers out

Adding just a little something to a bud vase design to connect them... and make it special.

20 July 2022 The tiniest drop

A radiating summer design that waves in the slightest of breezes.

24 August 2022 Hot air balloon

A grass bubble to frame two of the most beautiful calla lilies.

7 December 2016 Oh! So clever

My article and Bridal basket design featured in DIY Weddings Magazine

12 August 2015 Catch of the Day

Weave a loose basket to display a single flower... or three

7 April 2011 Weaving with Flax

Here are a few more examples of woven flax. I also use Typha, palm, iris leaves, Kyogi paper, boat orchid leaves and aspidistra to weave with.

13 July 2016 Woven

Weave a canopy or parachute shaped armature for orchids to perch on

13 January 2016 Once Upon A Time

Stack and glue a Grass Pyramid Armature

3 June 2015 A watcha call it

Weave a sphere armature

2 March 2016 Beginning

Glue a Midelino Cane Coil Globe Cup to display beautiful Gloriosa lilies

15 April 2015 Bowled Over

Weave a sphere armature to complement delicate oncidium orchiods